//------------------------------// // 4- Reinforcements // Story: A Noble’s Shadow // by LSTS Connor //------------------------------// Six walked behind the royal couple in line with her training on how one should act as a bodyguard to a VIP. Her helmet was located at her hip, and her wings remained half extended at her side, ready to deal with any threat that might approach. Or at least, that’s what she would have liked anyone to think. With the small white balls of fur located within her helmet and between the crook of her wings, the bright red blush and bashful smile portrayed quite the opposite message. Currently, the trio was inspecting the spire that encapsulated the plaza below, her Spartan underlings tasked with keeping watch for any would-be attacks on their convoy. But even Six knew that after her rather…unique display, they would’ve already been attacked if they were a target. “So…” Cadence began with a glance towards Six, drawing the Spartan’s attention. “You gonna keep them?” “Yes,” Six didn’t even hesitate with her answer as she looked back and smiled at the sleeping animals’ form. She could almost feel their soft breathing, unconscious squeaks, and hums through her armor, and each and every one of them made her smile. Six didn’t know why and, right now, she didn’t care. All that mattered to her right now was that they didn’t get hurt. Her Spartan training suddenly reasserted itself, bringing a metaphysical sledgehammer to her mind and forcing her to remember that the ponies before her were her real charges, not the sleeping ferrets. “I thought as much,” Cadence continued with a smile. “I’ll make sure to have some food and bowls for them brought to your room. Though we still have to know where they came from. They might have names.” Six hummed in agreement as they entered what appeared to be the throne room proper. It was a large crystalline room, its walls sharing their characteristics with everywhere else inside the spire. Against the far wall was the throne itself, though it seemed more like a foreign object rather than part of the castle itself. It was covered in a black crystalline substance, with red and violet veins crisscrossing its surface like blood vessels. Colors seemed to flow like liquid underneath the surface, as if the inorganic substance was alive. The structure seemed to radiate an almost palpable feeling of wrongness to the trio, its mere presence felt like a mistake in the cosmic fold. A tumor that needed to be excised lest it be able to fester and grow. Even the ferrets were not exempt from its influence, the little mustelids waking up and hissing in the general direction of the black throne. Shining sneered and looked in utter contempt towards the throne as he began to charge his horn with more power than Six had ever seen. Even with her enhanced biology, she dared not look directly towards the tip of his horn, its light blinding. The Prince was soon joined by his wife, who also began to charge her magic. Within moments the couple's magical auras began to merge, forcing the Spartan to raise her wing to protect against the blinding light, her other moving to do the same for her two furry passengers. A bright beam of pink and blue shot out from where their magics met and toward the tainted throne. The room was bathed in a pinkish-blue hue, and the sound of glass shattering filled the air, the light dissapaiting shortly afterwards. Removing her wings from her face, Six blinked the spots out of her eyes. The throne was gone, not shattered or broken, it was as if the tainted throne was never there to begin with. The feeling of wrongness had vanished with the throne, Six’s two passengers calming down though remaining in their newest hiding spot within the helmet attached to her hip. “That feels much better,” began Shining as he walked around the throne room. “Nothing quite like the feeling of banishing dark magic, ey honey?” “Yep!” Cadence answered happily before joining her husband in inspecting the room. “Dark…magic?” Six questioned, her mind already beginning to grow peeved at the thought. “Don’t tell me there's dark magic I now have to deal with as well,” the Spartan grumbled, exasperated as she brought a hoof to her face. In the corner of her vision, she could see the sheepish smile shot at her by the royal couple. Six sighed deeply. “Great. Just…Great!” Annoyance wouldn’t even begin to describe how Six was feeling at this very moment. Were it not for the sudden warmth of one of the ferrets deciding to use her head as perch she would have surely released her frustrations on the nearby wall. Such an event did not come to pass, however, as the little mustelid calmed the Spartan down like water on a flame. Its little dooks as it began to play with her jet black hair easing Six’s nerves immensely. After the display that had transpired on the plaza below between herself and the ferrets, the Spartan’s mood had improved immensely. Spartan and professional etiquette be damned, that was the most fun she had ever had in recent memory, perhaps even her whole life. It was as if, for a brief moment, she wasn’t a Spartan, or even a soldier; she was a child playing with her pets without worry about what the future might hold. But reality reasserted itself soon after, forcing the Spartan back into her role as protector of the royal couple. Walking towards where the royal couple now stood, Six found herself overlooking the city from a balcony. She could see for miles on end, but the horizon obscured by the ever-encroaching blizzard that surrounded the valley. It had gotten closer, and within the hour, it would be on top of them. “Dammit, it seems Sombra is accelerating his timeline,” cursed Shining as he eyed the blizzard with a look of uncharacteristic disdain. “Looks like my sister won’t arrive until after he’s already knocking at the gates.” “What can we do?” asked Cadence, worry clear as day in her voice. “We only just got the crystal ponies to come out of hiding. If…if they see Sombra again, it could become a full-blown panic.” “My shield seems to be strong enough to hold him, so mayb-“ “Shiney, no, please. Sombra isn’t Chrysalis. He won’t hesitate to k-kill you to get what he wants. L-let me do it, p-please I’m an Alicorn. I can take it,” Cadence pleaded as Shining bit his lip, clearly having an internal debate. “My shield spell is too energy-consuming for you. I…I would have to take over,” Cadence smiled at his words however, confusing the Prince. “But by then, you would have Twilight and her friends with you. And I know that they’ll find a way to deal with Sombra once and for all.” Shining Armor looked at his wife, his face unreadable. He stayed like that for several seconds before sighing deeply, a hint of resigned amusement in his voice. “I swear to Celestia, I hate how it's always up to Twilight and her friends, making us soldiers look bad. Fine, wait until the absolute last moment to put the shield up then, Cadence. Six?”  “What do you need me to do?” answered the Spartan, her serious aura only marred by the sleeping ferret atop her head and the awake one lying across her soldier, watching the unicorn with interest. “Well, first, I would suggest finding someone to take care of those little guys.” “I'll take care of them,” answered Cadence as she slowly moved up and coaxed the two ferrets off of Six and onto herself. They didn’t seem to mind much now that they were not being flown through the air against their will within her magical aura. “Well, aren’t you two just the cutest little things?” Shining smiled at the sight before refocusing on the Spartan, who mirrored his expression. ‘Seeing Six like that will certainly take some getting used to.’ “You’ll be coming with me to get my sister and her friends in case Sombra decides to crash our party. Which, knowing what I do, he most probably will.” “If I see him, I’ll deal with him.” “Do not enter a protracted fight with the King. If he comes, you will have to slow him down until we get back to the city. His magic is far unlike anything you’ve faced before… and we all know how you feel about that.” The Spartan’s undisguised hatred for anything magical had become quite well known among the equestrian guard, leading to several incidents of freshly recruited unicorns outright refusing to use magic after an encounter with ‘The Angel.’ “What type of crap am I going to have to deal with now?” Six asked, somewhat exasperated. “How is this dark magic he uses any different?” “Other than its increased potency and penchant for the effects of the more… esoteric nature, it is incredibly dangerous. Your shield—as effective as it is against normal magic—may not be so protective against him. Dark magic it’s… how do I put this…” The Prince wracked his brain, trying to find the words he needed. “It's… an anathema to normal magic, a type of energy that can only be extracted from those dark crystals we destroyed. And Sombra happens to be a master at creating and using these crystals.” “Cut the history lesson. I need specifics on what it can do and how to counter it.” “Well, to be honest, then we have no idea.” That answer made Six frown as Shining quickly put his hooves up in a defensive posture. “Hey, hey! Look, you’ve felt what just being near that stuff feels like. Imagine being directly next to it for days at a time. Needless to say, researching it is not high on the priority list” The answer seemed to calm the Spartan down. Though it still remained, it was no longer directed at him. Shining continued, “What we do know is from the Princesses, and that's how to destroy it. It’s why I’m coming with you to get my sister and her friends.” Six turned to look at the horizon, squinting as if trying to find Sombra with her naked eye among the raging storm. “What of my Spartans?” “Protecting Cadence. Sombra may have sleeper agents or something else hidden as a contingency plan. I would not put it past him having planned for this situation in advance.” “You think he may have?” “If he did not, we’re massively overestimating him, and I do not want to take that chance. According to Celestia, he took over the entirety of the crystal empire by himself, slaughtered the royal family, and consolidated his power as the only ruler of the Empire.” Six opened her mouth to say something but was cut off. “He had no help. He had no allies. He took over the entire Empire within a single day by himself,” Shining intoned again with more force. “Killed every single blood relative of the royal family so that none could claim his throne. He is not somepony we can afford to underestimate. For all we know, this is all part of his plan to retake the Empire.” “I'll tell my Spartans to be extra vigilant. If he has something up his sleeve, they’ll handle it.” “I wouldn’t expect anything less from those ponies,” Shining offered with a small but sad smile as he looked out towards the encroaching storm. The only sound that now reverberated through the throne room was the innocent squeaks of the two ferrets inspecting Cadence. A moment later, Shining Armor turned to look towards Six, a dead serious look on his face. ”Twilight will be arriving soon. Tell your Spartans their new orders, then wait for me at the city's gates.” Six nodded and gave a short salute, turning to leave and fulfill Shining’s orders, the Spartan giving one last cursory glance towards the pair before leaving the room fully. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to go out there?” Cadence asked, breaking the silence as she refocused her attention away from the ferrets sniffing her wings. “ I can handle myself, you know, if that’s what you're worried about.” Shining said nothing for several long seconds before sighing loudly. “I know it's not a good idea. It's a terrible one. But I’ll be damned if I’m not there to protect Twilight.” A fire was lit behind his eyes as he made the proclamation. Cadence knew that look; it was the one he did when his mind was made up. “Alright… but if you end up dead, I’m going to kill you myself,” Cadence responded with her own deathly serious tone. Both stared at each other for only but a moment before sharing a small laugh and embracing each other. “I wasn’t joking,” Cadence whispered into her husband's ear, tightening her grip on the unicorn. “Then I guess I better come back,” Shining whispered in return before bringing his lips to hers. Six waited somewhat impatiently at the city's gates, the edge of a pink shield lying several meters before her just outside of the crystalline walls. She held her knife in her hooves, sharpening its surface along a nearby wall whilst idly watching her motion tracker.  She had deafened herself to the conversations around her, the only sound reaching her ears  being her own calm breathing and the vibrations traveling up her hoof from her knife. “While I can commend Shining Armor’s forward-thinking nature, you should know it will ultimately be useless when I arrive.” Six extended her right wing out in an attempt to impale the voice's origin, but as she feared, her wing met nothing but empty air. She sighed into her helmet. “Now what? You’re starting to really piss me off.”  “Not my intention, I assure you. Is it so bad that I want to merely speak with the Demon of the Empress herself?” Six turned to look in the direction of her outstretched wing. It was bisecting a translucent Sombra’s face, golden shield visible to the naked eye. “What is your end goal here? Annoy me to death? Try and manipulate me to your side?” “No, I require no manipulations. Once you get a taste of the freedom I am offering, you will join of your own free will,” he responded as if it were fact. Six couldn’t help but laugh at the King’s pronouncement. “You are sorely underestimating a Spartan’s loyalty—my loyalty.” “And you are a fool for giving them that loyalty. Once your usefulness is at an end, they will do the same as my old masters. You are a tool to them, nothing more. But I know that you will enjoy the freedom I am offering. After all,” Sombra smirked as if he had already won, “you appeared to enjoy my gift.” “Gift?” “Those little animals you appear to be so fond of.” Six froze. “Do be sure to take good care of them until I arrive. I took great pride in raising Castello and Cristallo before I gained my freedom.” “…They're yours?” “In another life, I suppose, but now they belong to you. As a gesture of goodwill from myself to you. From one weapon to another. We do not have to be enemies. That is all I am trying to tell you.” Six moved to say something but was cut off by the King. “Do not mistake my gifts for weakness, however. When we meet on the field of battle, I will not hesitate to kill you if it means reaching my goal. These offers and gifts are as easily taken away as those ponies you care so deeply about.” “Don’t you dare threaten them,” Six responded coldly, her tone laced with enough venom to kill a dragon. “Joining me guarantees their safety, and as powerful as you are, you are but a single drop in the ocean compared to me. If I had been there when those changelings attacked, Spear would still live. And if they were to attack again, you needn’t worry about the rest.” Six growled in anger as she jumped up to behead the shade, only to meet empty air once again, the King having vanished as if he were never there. “You do not get to speak his name!” the Spartan growled out into her helmet, breathing heavily and heart racing.  She stood there panting for several seconds before calming herself down with several deep breaths. ‘Ignore him. He’s just trying to manipulate you.’  Six told herself as she returned to where she was previously seated, ignoring the looks being thrown her way by several faraway guards and citizens. Her mind attempted to dismiss the intrusive thoughts the King has given her—to ignore the memories unearthed by his words. ‘There was nothing we could do.’ Yet as hard as she tried, some small part of her brain disobeyed, a little voice in the back of her mind awakening to ask her one simple question: Could she handle losing her family again?